For many people, planning is an attractive profession because it deals with a wide variety of subjects in contexts as diverse as the population of a community. Most planners work for public agencies, but some work in private firms, often with architects...

Overview
This chapter provides a brief outline of how a reader can become a professional planner or a member of a planning commission. Chapter 24, available only on the web, provides more information on how to enter the planning profession; it is...

Overview
Economic development efforts in communities in the United States typically focus on bringing “economic base” jobs to the community – jobs that produce goods or services that are sold outside the community, so that they will help to bring new...

Overview
Planning can make communities safer. Techniques range from avoiding floodways and areas likely to be hit by landslides to designing around other natural hazards and creating human-built environments that discourage criminal activity. This...

Overview
Open space helps to shape a community and helps a community to breathe. Traditional parks provide opportunities for recreation and relaxation. Linkages planned through green infrastructure programs provide critical links in habitat and natural...